Isn't Always Easy to Understand
by XenaDog
Summary: Love can be difficult to understand sometimes, especially between two people who are seen as total opposites. High School/Human AU, Hetero Spamano, Genderbend Fem!Spain, One-Shot


**XXX**

**Isn't Always Easy to Understand**

**XXX**

It was a well-known fact that Lovino Vargas was probably one the rudest and most ill tempered students in attendance at Hetalia Academy.

No one understood how the older brother of the very popular and much loved freshman, Feliciana Vargas, could be so drastically different. The two were like night and day. Feliciana (known to all as Feli) was carefree, friendly, and endearing; Lovino (nobody dares call him Lovi) was grumpy, unsocial, and standoffish. However, despite the obvious differences they did share some similarities. Both loved pasta, both had a strange, gravity-defying curl of hair, both were quite clumsy, and both were utter cowards.

It was clear to all which of the Italian siblings was the more favored. While Feli had many friends Lovino had very few. Feli had a doting German boyfriend (who her brother hated) and many close friends, such as Kiku Honda, Elizabeta Héderváry, Roderich Edelstein, and many others. Lovino had almost no one, unless you counted Feli's friends as his own friends by association, but that was usually a stretch even on a good day.

However, Lovino was not truly alone, for he had his one truly best friend, and that was Antonia Fernández Carriedo.

Antonia (or just Toni to her friends) was a fairly popular girl around school, mostly because she was just so likeable. She was almost constantly cheerful and an eternal optimist with a near perpetual smile on her face. It also helped that she was quite attractive, largely in part due to her Spanish heritage. She had tanned skin and chocolate brown, curly hair that fell just past her shoulders, and had emerald green eyes that reflected her sunny optimism and buoyant personality. Quite a few of the male students would jump at the chance to date the cheery, Spanish girl, but none could ever stand a chance.

Because everyone knew the three things Antonia loved most, those being tomatoes, turtles, and Lovino.

This was also something no one understood. Lovino was always rude and impolite, cursed every other sentence, was known to hit people when irritated (which was almost all the time), and was just downright unpleasant. Yet, despite all this, Toni loved him with all her heart. She had rejected all pursuits of others; she had eyes only for 'her' Lovi (she was the _only_ person allowed to call him that, mostly because he could never get her to stop).

Although, many thought that the main reason she always rejected possible suitors was because of the fact that the girl was downright clueless. She was intelligent, her grades proved such, however, she was extremely oblivious and naïve. Sexual innuendos flew right over the poor girl's head, and usually did so while holding hands with sarcasm, mockery, and irony. Toni could not for the life of her read the atmosphere, and usually only direct insults ever registered with her.

However, few ever had the chance to insult her, as Antonia was almost always seen with two best friends from grade school, Francis Bonnefoy and Gilbert Beilschmidt. The trio of friends was known to all as the infamous 'Bad Friend Trio'. The trio was known for pulling pranks (usually started by Gilbert), causing random havoc (again, usually started by Gilbert), and getting into general mischievous behaviors (Gilbert starting it as usual). Toni's two best friends, the ever-flirtatious Francis and extremely arrogant Gilbert, were always quick to defend their naïve female friend. The three looked out for each other, as they had since they were little, when they had had no one else to do so.

When not seen with her two close friends, Antonia could still be easily found. She spent just as much time with Lovino as she did with the other two/thirds of the BFT. It was theorized by many that it was her oblivious and optimistic nature that allowed her to spend so much time with the volatile Italian, but they still could never understand why she would want to. Sure, her other friends were, well, interesting individuals, and could be considered worse in their own rights, but why Lovino of all people?

Regardless of the reasons why the student body generally agreed that Lovino and Antonia were perfect for each other. It was obvious to all that although he constantly denied it, Lovino loved Antonia just as much as she loved him. When with her he didn't swear as much and paid a little more attention to what he said. He was in a relatively better mood (relatively being the key word there). He didn't glare as much around her, and she could sometimes, _sometimes_ coax a genuine smile out of him. It was clear that she brought out the best in him. In return, he tolerated the girl's clinginess, naïve nature, and sometimes-strange gestures of endearment.

As some unspoken personality rule, Lovino didn't give much of anything in return to anyone. He didn't tend to give back after receiving, unless his sister nagged at him about it. However, Antonia was the exception. It was always halting, and usually resulted in a furious red blush (with Lovino there was no in between, he was either normal or red), but he would sometimes give Toni compliments or do something thoughtful or nice for her. Although it was usually accompanied by an insult of some sort, this usually sent Antonia over the edge with happiness and she would start to coo about her Lovi and how much he looked like a tomato, which always made him grumble even more.

Something the strange duo had in common was a shared obsessive love of tomatoes (some theorized that they were destined to be together for this fact alone). Antonia's family owned a farm and they, of course, grew some of the best tomatoes in the county. It was a common sight to see her carrying a tomato around school with her as a snack, and it could usually be counted on that she would have a few more in her backpack or locker. There was always at least one or two saved especially for her Lovi, who never rejected one of her tomatoes.

Regardless of the bizarre pair's chemistry, everyone knew they were destined to be together. That is, if Lovino could ever admit to his feelings and finally ask her out. Antonia was a paradox in this sense. She was single and perfectly dateable by all rights and purposes, but at the same time she was off-limits and no one ever bothered to ask her out anymore.

There were many bets made among the students regarding the "unofficial" couple, mostly revolving around when they would finally get together. Most of these bets had been running for nearly a year and a half, starting sometime after Lovino started his freshman year of high school and Antonia, a then sophomore, swooped in to pick up their friendship where it had been interrupted when they had been separated by the wall between junior high and high school.

It was sometime in March of the following year, when Lovino was a sophomore and Antonia was a junior, that all the bets and predictions would be brought to a close.

It was an ordinary (chaotic) day at Hetalia Academy; in fact, it was lunchtime. Nearly every student was gathered in the cafeteria, eating lunch and socializing, when the double doors to the cafeteria slammed open and a strange hush fell over the normally noisy cafeteria. A panting Elizabeta stood there, her eyes wide and a large grin on her face.

"It's happened! It's finally happened!"

By now she had the entire student body's attention. Students stared at her, not sure how to react. Some looked like they were questioning her mental health. What on earth was she yelling about? Despite this everyone (or at least those who could read the atmosphere) could sense something big had just happened. Some of the more eccentric students had even commented earlier how they had felt a disturbance in the force.

"Ve~ What do you mean?" said the eternally innocent Feliciana, easily heard in the silence.

Elizabeta, unperturbed by the questioning gazes and tense silence, yelled out excitedly, "Lovino and Antonia are finally dating!"

There was a beat of silence, and then all hell broke loose. There was exclamations of "What!?", "Really!?", "Since when!?", and even whoops of triumph and groans of despair from those who had made hefty bets regarding the two.

The chaos was short-lived because a voice called out louder than the rest, "Who kissed who first!?"

All eyes turned to Gilbert, who had stood up from his seat and had a strangely serious expression on his face. Then Francis, who was sitting right next to him, stood up as well, looking equally as serious. "Yes, who initiated the kiss?"

All eyes on Elizabeta as a devious smirk worked its way onto her face. "Lovino may have asked her out, but Toni totally kissed him first."

"Ah yeah!"

"Noooo!"

Gilbert was fist-pumping the air excitedly while Francis was sitting again, head in hands in defeat. The silver-haired teen clapped his friend on the back, evil grin on his face, "You shouldn't have ever made a bet against the awesome me! I expect my payment by the end of the week!" Francis gave a cry of despair.

The new couple was all the other students talked about the rest of the day, and was the topic of many conversations for the following week. After finding out the whole school knew not ten minutes after it happened (he had been hoping it would take a little longer for word to get out) Lovino had just about blown a gasket, nearly biting the heads off the overly curious. Antonia just laughed and pecked him on the cheek, making his face turn scarlet in record time.

Eventually the hype died down and it became old news. No one ever did find out what payment Francis and Gilbert had regarding their bet, but whenever it was mentioned Francis would turn white and try to derail the conversation, while Gilbert would just laugh hysterically. Antonia, confused, would ask, "What bet?" only to be distracted by Francis, who would want the subject dropped as soon as possible.

As was expected of nosey students who loved to gossip, new bets were made, such as how long they would last, when they would get married, if they would break up, etcetera etcetera. Many still didn't understand the attraction between the two, but it was simply accepted by the school in large. The two were happy (even if Lovino never truly showed it), and they loved each other, despite their faults, and that was all that mattered.

Love isn't always easy to understand. It's difficult and is often very complicated, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. Love is one of the best things in the world, and is something anyone can give and get, and is something everyone needs and deserves. Regardless of how it happens, love can sometimes bring the most unlikely of people together. Lovino Vargas and Antonia Fernández Carriedo are a perfect example.

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**Author's Note:** Phew, I just really needed to get that out of my system. I seriously love Fem!Spain; don't ask me why, I just do. Also, I love Romano x Fem!Spain as a couple (definitely my OTP for these two), even more than Spain x Fem!Romano. I just think it's adorable and it seriously needs more love.

This is just a one-shot but I might be tempted to write more of these two, and probably one with more interaction between them. This was more of an outside view of the two and their relationship. It's told from an outsider's perspective with inside information. I don't know. I just had the idea floating around my brain.

I hope I still have them in character. I'm not really sure I portray Romano correctly. He's kind of hard for me to write. I'm a naturally kind person and have a hard time being outright mean to others, even in writing. I need to practice for my other story when I actually need to write dialogue.

**Notes:**

* I know other people have used other names for genderbent Antonio. However, I personally like Antonia with the nickname Toni. I have a female friend whose name is Toni (no, she's not Spanish), and I think it is an acceptable name for a girl.

* I didn't genderbend Francis and Gilbert in this story, however, I feel that either way, male or female, it wouldn't have changed the impact of this story in particular. I might change their genders in future stories like this if I ever decide to write more stories similar to this one.

* Don't ask me what Francis and Gilbert bet on, because even I don't know.

* I made Italy a girl in this story because I can.

Also, for those following my other story, don't worry; I'm still working on it. I was just inspired and really wanted to write this.


End file.
